


Two Men, a Baby, and a Magic Sword

by alchemise



Category: Iron Fist (TV)
Genre: Bonding, Family, Fluff, Gen, magical object
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:02:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28123539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alchemise/pseuds/alchemise
Summary: “This carrier is really complicated. Does it need so many buckles?”“It’s a Baby Bjorn, Danny!”
Relationships: Ward Meachum & Danny Rand
Comments: 13
Kudos: 17
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	Two Men, a Baby, and a Magic Sword

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sholio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sholio/gifts).



“No. No way, Danny, not tonight. Whatever it is can wait until tomorrow.” 

Ward bounced up and down slightly as Thomas made a sleepy, burbling noise. Ward was going to be so pissed if Danny woke up his kid. It had taken over an hour to get him to fall asleep, and the only thing that had worked was bundling him into the baby carrier so he was lying against Ward’s chest. Then Thomas was instantly asleep. Ward couldn’t help noticing that he really enjoyed the feeling too.

A cruel part of Ward’s mind wondered if he’d ever slept against his father’s chest, and he immediately quashed the thought. No way was _Harold_ intruding on Ward’s father-son time.

Then he noticed that Danny was still standing expectantly on the stoop.

“I really need your help.” Danny was doing his best plaintive look—a skill he excelled at—but Ward wasn’t falling for it.

“I’m sure you can handle whatever it is yourself.”

“Maybe, but maybe not.” Danny shrugged. “I’ll owe you one?”

Ward narrowed his eyes, suspicious but calculating, as always. “One what?”

Obviously failing to realize what he was getting himself into, Danny just said, “One anything! I don’t care. Whatever you want, I will do it for you. Now will you help?”

Ward figured one evening helping Danny couldn’t hurt; although a nagging part of his mind tried to remind him of all the times that getting involved with Danny’s shit had _literally_ hurt. He ignored that voice though, because he was about to be owed a favor, from Thomas’s Uncle Danny. 

“Fine, I’m in. But make sure you keep your voice down.” With that, Ward bundled together all the baby accoutrements he thought he might need. He’d learned so far with Thomas that one could never be too prepared when it came to baby needs and messes.

They headed off down the sidewalk. After hearing that their destination wasn’t too far away, Ward insisted that they walk instead of drive. The last thing he wanted was for Thomas to wake up while trying to wrangle him into a car seat.

Danny intruded on Ward’s nonstop baby thoughts. “You’re being way grumpier than normal. Aren’t things with Thomas going well?” At least Danny was keeping his voice down.

“Yes, they are. I’m just not sleeping a lot.” As if on cue, Ward yawned hugely.

Danny looked puzzled. “I thought Thomas was like the perfect baby? Sleeping through the night and everything?”

“He is perfect, yes. And sleeping through the night, once I get him down. That’s been the tricky part.” Ward suddenly felt like he was at an NA meeting, about to own up to his failures and weaknesses. “It’s just that _I’m_ not sleeping.”

Danny looked concerned but didn’t say anything. It was the perfect silent prodding.

“I want to show Bethany I can do this. On my own. That I can be a good dad.” Then came the big one. “It’s not like I have a lot of direct experience with one, other than your dad.” All of Ward’s fears were laid bare: that he’d turn out like Harold, simply because he didn’t know any better.

Danny must have seen the insecurity on Ward’s face, because he knew the exact right thing to say. “At least you know what not to do?”

Ward barked a laugh and then looked alarmed at baby Thomas, who just snuggled a bit closer. “Yeah, you’re right there.” He realized they’d walked pretty far by that point and were entering an area of the city that Ward was utterly unfamiliar with. “Danny, what are we doing here anyway?”

“Oh right, so I got word that a certain antique was stolen. The thieves were picked up by the police on other charges, but I was able to follow their trail back to… that place right there.” Danny pointed at an abandoned storefront a little ways down the block. “I think it might be in there.”

“What might be in there? Some new K’un Lun clue or something?” And then the big question hit Ward. “And why would you need my help with some antique?”

Danny shrugged. “Let’s just see if it’s here, and I’ll explain everything.”

“Uh-huh.” Ward was dubious but followed Danny to the storefront and then, one jimmied lock later, inside.

They crept into a back storeroom. It was mostly empty but stashed hidden behind a shelving unit was a small pile of clearly illicit goods: a vase, a couple of small bird statues, some jewelry, and, by far the biggest item, a beautiful and clearly ancient sword.

Ward thought it might be a katana—it was similar looking to Colleen’s—with an engraved hilt and scabbard that might have been ivory or bone. Before Ward could ask Danny anything about this haul of stolen goods, something about the sword changed. Ward couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but there was almost the barest hint of light.

“Please tell me this isn’t a magic sword.” It wasn’t a question. Ward had zero patience for magic bullshit at the best of times.

Danny frowned. “Huh, it is kind of glowing. Whoa, cool! A magic sword!”

“SHHHHHHHH!” Thomas hadn’t even shifted against Ward’s chest, but he didn’t want to chance things. Although, if he was being honest with himself—which he wasn’t—his shushing had been louder than Danny’s reaction to the magic sword. Which, now that Ward was thinking about it and not freaking out over the possibility of his son waking up, he realized seemed suspiciously subdued. It wasn’t like Danny to not be loudly excited by something like a mysterious magic sword.

Unless… “Danny?” Ward tried to convey as much ‘I’m-onto-you’ as possible with the question.

“Yeah. This is amazing, isn’t it?” The tiniest smidgeon of guilt crossed Danny’s face.

“Danny. You knew, this was a magic sword, didn’t you.” It wasn’t actually a question. Ward knew Danny and especially knew when Danny was lying, usually because he was terrible at it.

“Look, Ward…”

Ward cut him off. “You dragged my baby to a _magic sword_.” If he was being rational, Ward knew that he’d find a regular sword just as alarming as a magic one, in this instance. Swords plus babies didn’t seem like the best combination, period.

“Okay, yes, I did.” Danny did not look particularly sorry. “But I swear it’s not dangerous. It’s not that kind of magic. All the texts were clear on that.”

“Oh, the texts were clear. That’s great.” The sword did look pretty innocuous, other than the vague glowing, but that just made Ward even more suspicious. “You still haven’t said why you needed me here.”

Now Danny did manage to look a bit sheepish. “Ah well, it turns out that the magic of this sword is basically the opposite of the magic behind Shou-Lao. They, um, repel each other.”

Realizing what Danny was getting at, Ward chuckled at the irony. “You, lover of all this magic shit, found a magic sword you can’t touch?”

“Yup.” Annoyance flashed across Danny’s face. “I need an ordinary person. You.”

Ward sighed in exasperation. “Fine, what do I need to do?”

“Well first we need to get you out of that contraption. I’ll hold Thomas, of course.” Danny’s eyes brightened as he made the suggestion. It would have been cute, if Ward wasn’t so determined to be annoyed at this favor he was doing.

Unfortunately, getting Ward out of the baby carrier was easier said than done, even with Danny’s help. “This thing is really complicated. Does it need so many buckles?”

“It’s a Baby Bjorn, Danny!”

Danny just looked at him. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It’s top of the line. Nevermind, I’ve got it.”

Holding Thomas tightly with one arm, Ward shrugged out of the carrier. Then, trying not to jostle his son at all, Ward passed him over to Danny. Danny’s face lit up with joy.

Danny held Thomas against him and started cooing at the miraculously still sleeping baby. It wasn’t long before Ward heard very quiet baby talk. “Who’s a cute little guy? You’re a cute little guy! With little fingers and toesies!”

Ward studied the sword before him. There weren’t any signs of an alarm or booby traps or anything, although he supposed that he wasn’t exactly an expert in spotting such things. He was starting to think the best course of action would be to just grab the damn thing and then worried that he was being a bit rash. 

He turned back to Danny to ask his advice, only to find him completely wrapped up in baby time. Apparently magic swords had nothing on sleeping infants.

“You know your name is Thomas, right? Did you know that’s my middle name? You’re named after me, aren’t you? Gootchie gootchie goo.”

Ward rolled his eyes and said, “Ahem.”

At least Danny looked sheepish, again, as he snapped out of his baby-induced trance and gave his attention back to Ward and the whole sword issue.

Ward held up a finger. “One: my son is not named after you. Thomas is Bethany’s grandfather’s name, and she didn’t exactly consult me when she named our kid.” Another finger. “Two: _magic sword_. What exactly am I supposed to do?”

Looking unrepentant, Danny said, “Oh, I’d just pick it up if I were you.”

“Fine.” Ward grabbed the sword with both hands. It started glowing brighter but only a little bit. Ward felt… nothing special. At least it didn’t seem to be hurting him.

“Huh, are you sure this thing is working? Or is it just a low-powered and inconveniently-shaped flashlight?” Ward turned to Danny with his questions.

“Uh, Ward? I think it’s working.”

Ward jerked his head around in alarm. There didn’t seem to be anything happening, except for the glowing. Which was spreading. Through Ward’s body.

It was like the light was conducting through his skin: a soft, warm glow that seriously made him wonder for a moment if he was on drugs again.

“Is it supposed to do this?”

“I really don’t know. It’s the opposite of dragons, whatever that means. The real research can start now that we have it.” Danny shrugged. “At least it’s kind of pretty. Do you feel anything?”

Ward thought about it and realized he felt surprisingly good. Not from the glowing though, he didn’t think. His best friend—his brother—was holding his son with love and care. His son. That was huge. Ward had a son, who was amazing in every way. He and Bethany might not work things out, but at least they were talking and she wasn’t keeping Thomas away from him. Even Joy seemed to be gradually warming up to him again. Slowly. A short conversation or text message at a time. 

Ward realized that he might actually be _happy_ , standing there with a glowing magical sword that was the opposite of dragons and might or might not be affecting him in some unknown way.

He barked out a quiet laugh. “I’m good.” He didn’t know if it was the sword or his own dumb mind finally acknowledging that his life didn’t always suck, but either way he’d take it.

Danny looked at him a little confused—apparently he hadn’t picked up on Ward’s newfound epiphany—but pleased. “Do you mind carrying it back to my place?”

Ward considered the mile or so walk, at night, while glowing via a magical sword, with his baby bundled in Danny’s arms. “Sure, why not.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

Ward gave Danny his best enigmatic grin. As they walked out of the store, the magical glow casting an aura of light around them, Ward had another revelation. He turned to Danny and nodded toward his son. “I’m glad Thomas has your name. Middle name, anyway.” Ward cleared his throat. “Even if it is just a coincidence.” 

Danny smiled widely and pressed a kiss to Thomas’s head. “See, I told you you’re named after me.”

Ward let the untruth go and allowed the glowing light to guide them forward.


End file.
